My Slowienie We are Slavic (2014) Podil, Kyiv's historic Polish quarter EUROVISION COUNTRY: Poland KYIV DESTINATION: The restaurants of the lower town of Podil In 1569 Kyiv became a part of Poland. It remained a Polish city for 100 years until 1686. But even after Kyiv became part of the Russian empire, Kyiv remained highly Polish. Polish was the main language in schools. The director of the Warsaw stock exchange was Kyiv's city mayor. in the 19th Century. According to some historical sources http://www.pallotyni.kiev.ua/en/?poles-in-kiev , the Poles have always tended to settle in the lower part of the city Podyl (or Podol) - which just means "Lower". Indeed in the 15th Century Polish generals went to the lower town of Podol to raise an army to oust the Russian army of the Duchy of Muscovy who had occupied the upper town of Kyiv. They failed. Podil was where the Poles built their Roman Catholic churches and did their ...